


picture puzzle piece

by dytabytes



Category: Pacific Rim
Genre: Gen, Pre-Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-23
Updated: 2013-07-23
Packaged: 2017-12-21 01:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/894424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dytabytes/pseuds/dytabytes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Newton Geiszler made a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	picture puzzle piece

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Zippy and Leenie for their help!

Hermann Gottlieb has been sharing Newt’s lab for three weeks now, and they haven’t talked more than fifteen minutes. Well, Newt’s talked a lot more than that, but Hermann hasn’t ever really talked back past a grunt or a “Thank you” or maybe, if Newt’s lucky, a “Good afternoon to you, too”. Which isn’t really conversation.

This is obviously unacceptable, because they’re literally the only two in the lab, because no one else wants to work in the same place as Newt because they think things blow up all the time (And they don’t! There was a controlled experience only the one time, and only because that stomach had a build-up of gases because someone hadn’t packed it in ammonia properly, and that wasn’t Newt’s fault!) and Newt’s already been at the Shatterdome for six months now and he’s totally not That Guy who sits alone at the end of the lunch table. If Hermann would only actually talk to him, they’d be best buds for sure!

But it’d probably take a miracle for that to happen, because Hermann is so into his numbers that Newt thinks he might secretly be a robot in human form. So maybe Newt... invents a reason to hang out together.

“I need Cheese-Its.”

“That’s nice.”

“You don’t understand, Hermann.” The other man jolts when Newt twists around him and gets up in his personal space, sliding between him and his chalkboard. “I don’t just want Cheese-Its. I need Cheese-Its.”

“Newton-”

“Ah!” Hermann is trying to slide around Newt to get to the board, and Newt is having none of it. “Nope, I am going through withdrawal. My body has a need for cheesey carbohydrate goodness and if that’s why my tummy wants, that’s what my tummy gets!”

Apparently, his high pitched “paaaay attention to meeeeeee” voice finally pings Hermann into the fact that he isn’t getting back to his calculations any time soon, because he frowns and puts his hand on his hips. “And what does that have anything to do with myself?” Score.

“Because, my mathematically inclined friend, I am a nerd.” Newt beams, because he just won the argument. “Not only that, but I’m a nerdy _white _guy in the middle of Hong Kong, and I have _glasses_! The moment I step out there to get my processed artificial cheesey fix, I’m gonna be beat up for my lunch money!”__

__“I still don’t see why that means you have to make yourself an utter nuisance.”_ _

__Newt spreads his arms wide with excitement. “Safety in numbers! One nerd’s prey, but two of us is, like, a herd or something! Totally different.” And without waiting for Hermann to start arguing more, Newt grabs his friend’s wrist (they’re totally friends now) and starts dragging him down the hall and out the door. “C’mon man, you need fresh air too! It’ll be healthy or something!”_ _

__To Hermann’s credit, they get all the building and two blocks down the street before he stops sputtering. German people have all the best curses, apparently, because Newt can’t hear any phrases repeating although, to be fair, he’s more concentrated on trying to writhe through the crush of people in the busy Hong Kong streets._ _

__“Geez, you’d think that they’d widen the sidewalks or something because this traffic is unreal! They say that driving is bad! Well, I mean, it’s still pretty bad, but at least you’re in your own little space that’s sort of temperature controlled and doesn’t smell like armpit unless you didn’t shower that morning, BUT I HAVE GOOD PERSONAL HYGIENE I SWEAR except when I’m pulling all-nighters, I guess. But that’s for the good of humanity, so it’s a really good reason and- Hey!”_ _

__Newt twists around because Hermann just yanked himself away and, okay, so he was talking about not showering, but still. Rude._ _

__Except that Hermann isn’t stalking angrily away from Newt. He’s not even yelling anymore. He’s... he’s on his knees, groping around on the pavement trying to grab for something and _Newt forgot that he has a leg thing_._ _

__Shiiiiiiit, Newt’s such a stupid asshole, how did he not connect over the course of twenty-one entire days that Hermann has a limp, and of course walking is probably a huge pain for him, and now he’s gone and gotten his new friend (who’s probably not his friend anymore) into trouble and shit shit shit._ _

__“Hey, get out of the way!” Newt wades back through the crowd to stand sort of beside and over Hermann, waving his hands around in wide circles to clear a space so that the other man can find his cane. “Clear out! He’s trying to get his stuff!”_ _

__He points at the nearest gawker and makes the angriest face he can. “Stop staring, you! You never seen a guy with a cane before? Or is it the bowl cut? Lots of people have bowl cuts! Like your momma! Yeah, I went there! Go away, you suck! Yeah, you with the face! I’m talking to you! That’s right, you’re gonna walk away!”_ _

__He huffs angrily and looks down to Hermann, who has managed to grab his cane and is looking at him with some kind of weird expression that’s not quite freaked out and not quite confused. Newt doesn’t have time to figure it out, just holds out a hand to help his friend (maybe? possibly?) up._ _

__“People suck, man. Want some extra leverage?”_ _

__Hermann pauses, then says, “I … would not mind that.”_ _

__Newt beams because he _totally has a friend still___ , and grabs Hermann’s hand tight to yank him to his feet.

“Wooof, up you go!”

The two of them stagger a bit (a lot) as Hermann tries to re-find his balance, but after stumbling around like two baby deer in the middle of zero-G, they finally figure out how to stay upright, and Newt brushes dust off of Hermann’s jacket so that he doesn’t have to look the other man in the eye.

“So, people suck and walking is for stupid people and I’ve got an idea!”

And then Newt throws himself into traffic. Because obviously the best way (correction: only way) to hail a cab is to fling yourself onto the hood of the nearest one while waving at the terrified driver and screaming “HEY! HEY, I NEED A RIDE!”.

Well maybe it’s not, but whatever, that worked, and Newt gets himself and Hermann into the backseat of a cab bound for Americantown, so he figures he won.

“Didn’t that... hurt?”

“Naaaah.” Newt grins and waves a hand. “I got a ton of practice being tackled by jocks in highschool, man, that was nothing"

"... Right."

They settle into a comfortable silence for the rest of the cab ride.

When they get to the store, Newt throws the door open and spreads his arms wide. “Here it is, my man! Americantown!”

“I can tell by the overwhelming amount of red, white and blue.” But there’s a bit of a smile on Hermann’s face, so the sarcasm is obviously not just snooty annoyance, but friendly annoyance, so that’s okay.

“Well, I mean, it’s not only American stuff, but that’s what they call it.” Newt then has an amazing idea. “Hey! Hey, you gotta be craving Jaffa Cakes or whatever it is you crazy British people eat, right?"

"I'm German."

"Meeeeh, German, British, it's all funny accents and short pants, c'mon just grab something! It’s on me!"

Later, Newt teases Hermann for buying milk of all things, when he’d been offered his pick of the entire store (“The entire store, Hermann! You could’ve bought twelve bars of Godiva and I’d have paid of all of ‘em out of guilt for my stupidity, but instead you got milk!”) and Hermann snipes back that milk is healthy and not full of additives like Newt’s American junk food, and Newt doesn’t even care, because they eat at the same table at lunchtime (or 2 in the morning because regular meals are for people who don’t do awesome science) and that means that they’re friends.

SUCK IT BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT. You’re not cool enough to sit with G-squared, anyway. Newt has no idea why he wanted to be friends with you.  



End file.
